Living Stories
by my own patronus
Summary: Every person has a story. When a box of forgotten photographs is discovered 16 years later in the Room of Requirement, another Hogwarts story begins to unfold. Blaine Anderson and Kurt Hummel's story is finally about to be told. My entry for the KBL reversebang 2014. Warning for major character death! More details inside.
1. Prologue

**Title: **Living Stories

**Artist: **too-much-tea

**Author: **my-own-patronus

**Rating (art/fic if different):** K/T (PG-13)

**Word Count: **~9000 (in progress)

**Warnings: _Major character death_** (both HP and Glee), spoilers for all of _Harry Potter_

**Fic Summary: **Every person has a story. Harry Potter wasn't the only student at Hogwarts back then, but everyone seems to forget that when they tell the tale of the Battle of Hogwarts. When a box of forgotten photographs is discovered 16 years later in the Room of Requirement, another story begins to unfold. Blaine Anderson and Kurt Hummel's story is finally about to be told.

**Note: **I am so grateful to have been able to work with the amazing too-much-tea and all the wonderful art she has created (and is in the process of creating for future events in this fic). I am also so deeply indebted to your-tragic-fairytale, my absolutely fantastic beta, who is the reason that the words sounds as pretty as they do. This has been such a fun collaborative process for me and I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did!

So far, I have three publishable chapters and lots of bits and pieces that don't fit anywhere just yet. Even though I know the exact trajectory of the fic, I don't know how long it will be in total. I also don't know when I'll finish or be posting more.

The fic and art are all being cross-posted to Tumblr, so go there if you want to see the real version of too-much-tea's _amazing _work!

And no, I couldn't resist putting the _Aida _lyrics in the description. That song fits this too well for me to ignore it. Go listen if you're not familiar!

Finally, I want to thank everyone who is choosing to read on despite the warnings - but seriously there will be major character death.

On to the fic!

* * *

**Prologue**

_"This is the story of a love that flourished in a time of hate"_

Jake laughed as he chased Kitty down one of the castle's many wide corridors. He knew that they should be quiet; Filch, the ancient caretaker knew all the passageways and even if he couldn't run, he could still catch them by taking shortcuts.

"Why did I let you talk me into sneaking out to the greenhouses in the middle of the night?" Kitty asked, though there was no malice in her voice.

"Because you thought it was hot. Plus, there were people in both our dorms..."

Kitty giggled and tried to run further, but her arm was yanked back by Jake.

"What?" she demanded.

"There's a door here. I've run down this hallway a million times and I've never seen this door before."

"Is this really the time to admire the school's architecture?"

"Come on, let's check it out! It'll keep Filch off our backs."

"Fine," Kitty said, rolling her eyes.

Jake didn't waste a second before pulling the door open, shoving Kitty in before him, and slamming the door after them.

"What is this place?"

Jake turned around and gasped. There were rows upon rows of - stuff. It smelled slightly musty and dusty and almost smoky, as if no one had been there in a long time. And no one probably had.

"I've never seen this place before," Jake said reverently. He took a step down the first row and began looking through the shelves.

"What is all this junk?"

"I don't think it's junk. I think... I think it's old students' stuff."

"What, that they just left behind?"

"I guess. I mean, what other explanation is there?" Jake gestured to a box with the letters 'BDA' written on it.

"Should we really go poking through this, though?" Kitty asked, a nervous tint to her voice. "I mean, it could be cursed or dangerous or something."

"What's so dangerous about some old school supplies? C'mon Kitty, I never thought you were such a wimp."

"Jake, have you never once paid attention to anyone in your entire life? Don't you remember hearing about back in '93 when they almost closed the school because _some old school supplies _were making someone try to kill the Muggle-Borns?"

"Come _on_, Kitty. That was You-Know-Who. Most students don't hide bits of their soul in old journals. Live a little!"

"How about this: I'll let you look through all of this if we get a little backup."

Jake rolled his eyes, but reluctantly agreed.

* * *

"Backup" ended up being Kitty and Jake's best friends, Marley and Ryder. The divisions that once existed between the four school houses had dissolved somewhat making the friendship between the two Slytherins and two Hufflepuffs less odd than it might have been twenty years ago when their own parents had attended Hogwarts.

Still, plenty of the competition and stigma still existed which is why, on the first day of First Year Herbology, Professor Longbottom made everyone partner up with someone from a different house whom they had never met before. In that one class, Jake and Ryder almost immediately became best friends.

It took a bit longer for Kitty and Marley, who initially hated each other (or, rather, Kitty hated Marley because Jake _liked_ Marley). After Marley and Jake had tried dating in their fourth year and then broke up, Kitty became much friendlier to the brunette girl, and the group became inseparable.

So it was at a much more reasonable hour that day, after lessons had ended, when Kitty and Jake tracked down Ryder and Marley and told them about what they'd discovered the night before.

"Oh, you mean the Room of Requirement?" Ryder asked immediately, not the least bit impressed by Jake's story.

"What's the Room of Requirement?" Kitty asked.

"They used it a lot in Harry Potter's days here for Dumbledore's Army, but I thought it was mostly destroyed in the Battle of Hogwarts... Anyway, it's this room that'll turn into whatever you want it to if you walk past it three times. You guys must have been circling so much last night that you didn't even notice."

"Wanna go check it out?"

That was all Ryder needed to get up and follow after his best friend. Their girlfriends shared long-suffering looks before following after them.

When they reentered the Room of Requirement, nothing looked any different. Although, Kitty realized, it was probably because most students forgot about it or thought that it had been destroyed, like Ryder had.

The four kids weren't able to hold in their curiosity for much longer, and soon they were roaming through the shelves. It was mostly filled with old school books, robes that had ripped or faded, and even a few awards that didn't belong in the school's trophy room (most notable among those was the "Fred Weasley Troublemaker Award").

"This is boring," Kitty finally declared after an hour of searching. They had all congregated back at the front of the room, near the BDA box that Jake had been eyeing before.

"One last box and then we'll call it quits?" he suggested. His friends agreed quickly, eager to get to the Great Hall for dinner.

This box, once opened, however, was quite different from the others. For one thing, rather than filled with junk that had been carelessly packed away, it was filled with papers that had been stacked meticulously.

Something about it seemed to capture the entire group's attention and inspired a reverent mood. Jake reached in and pulled out the topmost photograph: it showed two boys, grinning, with their arms around each other.

Below that were a few journals, a stack of letters, another few piles of photographs, and several newspaper clippings - all from May 1998.

Marley's throat tightened.

"I think - I think these guys were here during the Battle," she whispered.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_"We're all stories, in the end."_

**2014**

The first picture that caught Jake's attention was a family portrait. But what stood out the most was that it wasn't moving; it was a Muggle picture of two adults and a small boy who was grinning gleefully between them.

"Burt, Elizabeth, and Kurt Hummel on Kurt's 7th birthday, 1987"

"Hummel," Ryder mused. "That name sounds familiar. Where have I heard it before?"

"I dunno. Why is there even a Muggle picture in here, anyway?" Kitty asked. "How could a Muggle get it here?"

"I'm pretty sure it just means he's Muggle-Born," Marley pointed out. "And if he was a student here, there must be some record of him. Maybe we could try looking in the records in the Library or the Trophy Room or something?"

"Really? Are you actually trying to turn this into more work for us to do now?" Jake asked exasperated. "Don't we have enough to do with the Charms essay that's due tomorrow?"

"I thought you were the one who wanted to go searching through all this stuff!" Marley pointed out. "Now it's getting interesting and you're giving up?"

"I'm not giving up, it's just - why do we even care about Kurt Hummel? He's like twenty years older than us. Who cares?"

"Jake, he was here when everything happened! If he was 7 in 1987, that means he was probably in Harry Potter's year at Hogwarts. What if he was there? This is so much more than one of Binns' lessons - this is the real story!"

The passion in Marley's voice gave everyone pause.

"I just - I feel like this is something important. I want to hear Kurt Hummel's story."

* * *

They found his name in a record of old school prefects and head boys and girls in the library. Kurt was a Slytherin, which surprised all four students when they remembered the Muggle photograph in the box that Jake was now dragging around the castle.

The only person any of them could think of that might have answers was Professor McGonagall, as she would have trained the prefects while still acting as Deputy Headmistress. The only obstacle was how they were going to get a meeting with the stern witch.

She was close to retirement, or at least it was rumored that she was. It was no secret that McGonagall was getting up there in years and wasn't as active in the school as she once was. Although many students knew the location of her office, none had been able to guess the password and few were ever invited to meetings with her - that duty belonged to the deputy headmaster.

So it was pure luck that the foursome was walking into the Great Hall for breakfast the next day right behind the school's headmistress.

"Professor McGonagall!" Marley called out before anyone could stop her.

The older witch turned around and had a small smile on her lips as she surveyed the students. "Yes?"

"We were just wondering - I mean, Jake and Kitty found some old pictures from before -" McGonagall looked sad, like all the adults did when anyone mentioned the time immediately before the Battle - "and we were wondering if you could tell us about the student in them?"

"And who was that Miss Rose? I've seen a lot of students go through these halls." Her voice was stern, but not unkind.

"Kurt Hummel."

McGonagall's eyes softened immediately upon hearing the name and she adopted a deeply saddened expression. "I haven't thought about Mr. Hummel in years. Why don't you kids get your breakfast and come see me during your free period today. I believe none of you have classes in the fourth hour?"

* * *

McGonagall's office looked like nothing that the woman would have designed. There were tabled with spindly artifacts all over the place in a most haphazard fashion - much too disorganized for such a straight-laced woman.

The four students sat in a row of chairs before her desk and sipped the tea she had offered them when they first arrived. Marley's attention was drawn away from a portrait of a sleeping Albus Dumbledore when Professor McGonagall began speaking.

"Kurt Hummel was a most unique student. He reminded me of myself in so many ways. Both our fathers were Muggles, you see. He was always so bright but never quite fit in until he found a place in his fifth year...

* * *

**1986**

Kurt's favorite story was always the one about how his mom and dad met. They always told it the same way, too, but it wasn't over-rehearsed. It was just how they were.

Dad, laughing, would turn to Kurt and say, "Did I ever tell you how your mom and I met?"

Kurt would roll his eyes, but secretly get excited. "Yes, dad, you've told me."

From the kitchen, Mom would excitedly yell, "Oh, are you telling the story again? Make sure you get it right!"

"Of course I'll get it right, I was there!"

Kurt would jump up on to the couch next to his dad and try his hardest to look like he was there against his will.

"Well, it all happened about a month after I moved to London. I was still getting used to the city and the cars driving on the wrong side and everything, and I was lost."

"Hopelessly lost!" Mom would call from the kitchen as she finished up dinner.

"Yeah, well, anyway, I was wandering up and down every street, trying to find something that looked familiar when all of a sudden I ran into someone. Now, I might not have been paying the best attention, but I knew enough to know that there hadn't been anyone there a moment before. Nor was there even a doorway that someone might have appeared from. But there she was, and I ran right into her and knocked all her packages over."

Mom would come into the living room by this point and would stand behind Dad's chair and wrap her arms around his torso lovingly.

"Naturally, I bent over to help her pick her things up – at the same moment she did, too. We knocked heads and I looked at her for the first time. And there she was. Your mother." At this, Dad would turn around and gaze lovingly at Mom. "She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in my life. And so, being the suave gentleman that I am, I said, 'We gotta stop meeting like this!'"

"No you didn't!" Kurt would finally squeal at the same time that Mom laughed lovingly.

"You're right, he didn't. He said something more along the lines of, 'Wow. Sorry, pretty. You're, I mean. Can I try again?' It was so cute, but I finally decided to stop his bumbling and I cut in and told him my name."

"And then I handed her her books and packages, which I hadn't even noticed at the time were exceptionally weird, and then I asked her out."

"If I recall correctly, you actually asked me how to get to the nearest underground station and then said, 'Wanna eat?'"

"Well, I got you to go out with me eventually."

"And the rest is history."

Kurt would look away so his parents could kiss for a moment and then he would turn back. "But how did you tell him?" he would then ask Mom.

Mom and Dad would exchange another deep look, one which Kurt never fully understood. "It took me a long time, because I was scared that your dad wouldn't like me still if he knew and I was worried about the Statute of Secrecy. I managed to avoid introducing him to my friends and taking him to my place, but finally he outright asked me if I wasn't as committed as he was. And of course, that wasn't the case. I was – I _am _very much in love. So I sat him down and said I had something very serious to tell him."

"And here I was, thinking she was going to break up with me or tell me she was dying."

"So I just said it."

"And?" Kurt would gasp, the tension still present in the story that he knew by heart.

"I said okay and I kissed her," Dad would say.

"...About ten minutes later. He processed what I said, and still looked hopelessly confused and scared that it was all a joke that I was playing instead of breaking up with him. So I pulled out my wand and I transfigured his baseball cap into a watch and I think that was the moment when everything changed for him. And _then _he said okay and kissed me."

"After that, she started introducing me to her friends and everyone, and even brought me to the Leaky Cauldron – where we first met – and Diagon Alley. Her parents weren't totally thrilled at first that I was a Muggle, but they got over that pretty quickly when they saw us together."

"And then he proposed and we had you, and everything was perfect."

Perfect. Kurt always loved that his parents were basically a real-life fairy tale.

Of course, a fairy tale can't be complete if both the parents are alive. When Kurt was seven, the family moved and his parents took him out of his Muggle elementary school and Dad stopped working at his auto shop. Mom and Dad started having long conversations every night, and they didn't seem as happy any more. They thought that Kurt didn't know what was going on, but they were wrong.

Kurt heard the fear in all the adults' voices when Mom's friends would come over. He heard them talking about Death Eaters who were still out there and the danger to Muggles. He cried himself to sleep every night that she left Kurt and Dad alone at the house while she went out with her friends.

Every morning she came back, she told him that she had to do it because she wanted him to be safe and happy. It was a small comfort. Until the morning when she didn't return.

She was hours late already and Kurt and Dad were terrified, Mom was never late, not like this. Dad had even turned on the Wireless to see if there was any news, something which he never did when Kurt was around unless they were listening to a music program.

Then there was a knock at the door.

Standing at the door was some unnamed Ministry witch. She looked mean and her voice was hard. Kurt would never remember her name or even what she said, he only remembered that she was the one that made the fairy-tale end forever. She made Kurt go to his room while she spoke with Dad, and even as stubborn and willful as he'd been at that age, Kurt had done what she'd said because she was just that scary.

When Kurt finally snuck out of his room, after the silence had lasted too long, he found Dad alone and curled up on the couch. That was the first time Kurt ever saw Dad cry. Kurt had crawled up onto the couch, settled on his knees next to his Dad shaking his shoulder a little, like he did when Dad fell asleep before dinner.

"Daddy, what's wrong?"

"Did I ever tell you how your mom and I met?" Dad said, trying to clear up his tears.

But the story was all wrong with only one storyteller. And that was the last time it was ever told.

* * *

**1990**

Kurt and Dad lived a normal Muggle life after that. They forgot all about the rogue Death Eaters who were still active despite the downfall of their leader. They still kept in contact with friends and family from the other world, but it hurt too much. They moved across the country and Dad opened up a new auto shop and everything was fine.

Kurt went back to Muggle school and learned math, writing, and history. He played with his classmates and listened to them tell made up stories about wizards and he never told them that magic was real. He almost forgot it was real, or at least he could pretend to forget. It was easier that way in the end.

Kurt was in the fifth grade and was nervous that all his classmates were starting to like each other. They were split up to watch those videos in class one day, and Kurt was terrified. Because he was starting to realize that he was even more different from his classmates.

When they found that out, boys started bullying Kurt. There were awful taunts and threats of violence, he was isolated and lost in a sea of kids that would never understand him- his magic, his past, or the things that made him so different from them all. He cried himself to sleep every night, but never told Dad, because this was yet another thing that Dad couldn't help him understand. Kurt's Dad loved him, did everything he could to give him a good life and as normal a childhood as you could have when you were so different from the entire world, but this was one area his Dad just wouldn't understand, one area he _couldn't_ understand. More than ever he mourned for the loss of his Mom, and wished harder than anything that she was still there, holding his hand or playing with his hair, laughing and telling stories, telling him everything would be okay.

Then at lunch one day, a boy from his class approached him.

"Hey Hummel, did your mommy leave you 'cause you're gay?" he taunted.

Kurt froze in his seat, but said nothing to the larger bully, he'd learned too often that responding only made things a million times worse.

"Don't ignore me when I talk to you!"

But Kurt only folded in on himself more.

"Fine! I guess I'll just hafta teach you what happens when you act like that!"

Kurt looked up just in time to see the bully lifting his cup, which had been holding a slushie, and beginning to toss the contents toward him. Kurt screwed up his eyes and wished harder than anything that the slushie would miss him. And then he waited for the impact. But it never came.

When Kurt opened his eyes, he saw his bully spluttering and confused, covered in his own slushie. Laughter began to rise from the surrounding children as they teased the boy for his poor aim and clumsiness.

And then Kurt remembered words his mother had spoken to him long ago: "If you're ever in trouble, I'll save you."

His mother's magic, which flowed in his veins, had saved him from humiliation. She'd kept her promise.

* * *

**1991**

Not too long after his eleventh birthday, Kurt got his Hogwarts letter. Though both he and Dad knew it was coming eventually, they were both a little shaken as it seemed their past was finally catching up to them, and no amount of pretending could change the course of their lives now.

"Well, I guess we've got to head to London," Dad finally said. "Maybe we can call up your grandparents and they can take you to Diagon Alley. Lord knows I won't be any help finding your supplies there."

It had been years since Kurt had spent any significant amount of time with his maternal grandparents. They visited every birthday and Christmas and got along just fine with Burt's family, but it was too hard on all of them. Kurt was the spitting image of his mother as a young girl.

When Grandma and Grandpa Schmidt come to pick Kurt up, they've already got a trunk with them.

"It was your mother's trunk. We thought you might want to bring it to school with you."

Kurt nodded eagerly and dragged it inside with help from Dad. Then Dad drove them all over to the nearest wizarding village so they could use the pub's floo network to get to the Leaky Cauldron.

Kurt waved goodbye to Dad through the dancing green flames and thought about everything that was pulling them apart. His own feelings. His own abilities. His own self.

How long would it be before he and Dad weren't anything more than two people living in the same house over summer holidays?

That was the moment when Kurt decided to do everything to keep Dad in his life.

* * *

On September 1, 1991, Kurt stood on Platform 9 ¾ with Dad and his new owl and wished that he didn't feel so guilty about leaving Dad alone.

"Have fun at school and write to me every week," Dad whispered as he hugged Kurt goodbye. "I'll see you at Christmas!"

Kurt ended up in a train compartment with several other first-years, two girls and a boy. The girls introduced themselves as Rachel and Mercedes, and the boy was Mike. All of them had come from wizarding families, too, but they knew so much more about Hogwarts and the wizarding world.

"I heard that _Harry Potter_ is on the train!" Rachel squealed after getting something from the candy trolley. "A girl in the next compartment just said that a boy told her that he saw him at the end of the train!"

"Wow," The other three chimed in at once, shock evident in their voices as they looked from one another in wide eyed awe. Even Kurt, who had been cut off from his wizarding roots for several years, still knew who Harry Potter was. Everyone knew the famous Harry Potter, but Kurt had never considered the fact he'd be the same age as the infamous Boy Who Lived, and from the reactions of the others- neither had they.

"Is he a first year, too?" Kurt asked.

Mike nodded. "He must be, otherwise the older kids would already know about him. My brother is a third year and he never mentioned anything."

The conversation moved on to school as time wore on and more and more students began changing into their robes. Kurt pulled on his plain black robes when he heard Mercedes call his name.

"What about you, Kurt? Where do you think you'll be sorted?"

Kurt knew enough about Hogwarts to name the four houses, but he didn't know much beyond that. "I don't know. I think all of the houses are pretty good."

"Well, where were your parents?"

"I – I don't know," Kurt said, realizing that it was true. He had never thought to ask Mom when he was younger.

"What do you mean?" Rachel asked. "How can you not _know_?"

"Mom died when I was seven. I never thought to ask her before."

"Well, what about your dad?"

"He's a Muggle."

There was a bit of a shocked silence in the compartment, a silence that confused and terrified Kurt a little. He'd barely made it out of Muggle schools with their judgement and hatred of him- had he inadvertently already stepped into the same situation here?

"Wait, a Muggle? You're sure he's not a Squib or something?" Rachel pushed.

"No, I'm sure."

"Hm. Well, both my dads were in Hufflepuff, but I don't know if that's the right house for me," Rachel said. "I think I'd be better suited for one of the more prestigious houses."

"There's nothing wrong with Hufflepuff," Mike said quietly if not a little defensively.

Kurt was glad that the conversation had moved on from him. He absently listened to his friends debating the merits of the various houses as he stared out the window. Not for the first time did Kurt wish he knew more about Mom, and Dad too, before they became Mom and Dad. What was Dad's life like before he knew that magic was real? What did Mom do before she married a Muggle and decided to fight for her husband and son's rights?

When they finally arrived at Hogwarts and were guided across the lake, Kurt's nerves returned in full force. He overheard plenty of conversations about what they would have to do to get sorted and which house was the best. It wasn't until the ghosts entered the room that they'd been ushered into that the first years stopped talking, the silence was so quick and deafening that Kurt wasn't so sure that it was a good thing. It felt suffocating, at least with the talking he could blend in and pretend to be part of the crowd, at least that way he'd been able to listen and learn about what was going to happen and what might be expected of him.

Moments later, Professor McGonagall brought them into the Great Hall for the sorting ceremony and every thought was chased out of Kurt's head. He watched as his classmates were sorted. Rachel was placed in Slytherin, then Mike in Ravenclaw. A boy only eleven and already towering over all his classmates was sorted into Gryffindor and then Kurt's name was called.

As the sorting hat was placed over his head, Kurt heard a small voice in speaking in his mind.

"_Hmm. Very ambitious, I see. Fearless, too. But a hard outer shell. Where to put you? Better be SLYTHERIN!"_

A table on the far end of the hall decked in green and silver erupted in cheers. Kurt went to join Rachel and the other first years that had been sorted there thus far and watched the rest of the ceremony. To his dismay, Mercedes was sorted into Gryffindor and took her seat at the opposite end of the hall. She sent a sad smile in Kurt's direction at their separation, but shrugged it off quickly; they'd only known each other for a few hours after all. A girl named Santana was also sorted into Slytherin, as was a boy named Draco – the hat hadn't even needed a minute to think before sending Draco their way. Everyone's attention was caught as Harry Potter was sorted into Gryffindor and he took a seat near the tall boy from earlier. After watching another boy get sorted into Gryffindor, this one with an odd mohawked hairstyle, Kurt's attention waned and he began to examine the hall.

At the front was a long table filled with all the professors. Kurt recognized a few immediately, like Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster, who had his own chocolate frog card, and Hagrid, who had taken them across the lake. The rest, however, were a mystery.

There were a couple hundred students gathered in the Great Hall, and all appeared almost identical in their black robes and hats. The only things that differentiated them were the colors on their ties and patches. As Kurt examined the other students' faces, he thought he might have recognized a cousin or two from Mom's side, a concept that hadn't even occurred to him until that very moment. Would they remember him or even want to associate with him?

As the last students were sorted and a boy named Blaise and a girl named Lauren both joined the Slytherin table, Professor Dumbledore stood up and announced the beginning of the meal.

As the evening wore on, Kurt talked with his new classmates and learned more about his house – most notably, its reputation. Draco seemed to fit that stereotype perfectly, and Kurt reminded himself that he should be wary around him. It became all the more apparent when Draco mentioned something about how they shouldn't allow Muggle-borns to attend Hogwarts. Kurt immediately thought of his dad back home.

"I don't see why that's a problem," he said boldly.

Draco turned a sneering face on Kurt. "And why is that?"

"Well, magic would die out without us marrying Muggles."

"Don't tell me you're a mudblood? I didn't think they let those in Slytherin."

"No, my mom was a witch. But my dad's a Muggle."

"Yeah, well, you're just a little freak anyway. In a few days time, I'm sure you'll be crying to go home."

It stung, knowing that the bullies here were just as bad as the bullies at Kurt's Muggle school had been, but he decided to just ignore the blonde boy. Instead, he spoke with Rachel and Santana, the two sitting closest to him.

As Kurt's first year wore on, he found himself a niche within Slytherin. Unfortunately, it left him isolated from the rest of the school. As a Slytherin, many students (most notably the Gryffindors) automatically disliked him. But he didn't agree with the more radical Slytherins like Draco, and so he wasn't well liked within his house, either. Santana had a friend that she knew from her neighborhood who was in Hufflepuff, and Kurt continued to talk with Mike in Ravenclaw and Mercedes in Gryffindor, so he wasn't ever totally alone.

Kurt had learned long ago to ignore the looks of disdain (this time due to his blood purity and not his sexuality, of course), so he merely puffed out his chest and continued to build his thick skin. That was why he was a Slytherin, after all. He was strong and ambitious and didn't care about what anyone else thought.


	3. Chapter 2

A/n: Sorry about the insanely long wait. I have no excuse since this chapter has been sitting in this exact state for months. I just really suck at finding where to end things, so I was unsatisfied with that part. I really hope that the next part will come faster, but I do have a thesis to write, so who knows. Thanks for everyone for sticking with this!

This chapter's quote is by Madeleine L'Engle

* * *

_"Stories make us more alive, more human, more courageous, more loving."_

Kitty decided to try organizing the contents of the box while the rest of her friends were in class. Most of her Slytherin classmates were in Care of Magical Creatures right now, but she'd never really been an animal person, so she had a free hour. Marley was stuck in double History of Magic with Ryder, and despite her burning passion for the history lesson in the box, she really wasn't the slightest bit interested in Binns' lessons.

Kitty decided to make a few piles. First were the newspaper articles, ones which she hadn't started to read yet. Next, were letters. Then journals. She'd tried organizing the photos based on who was in them, but the two boys were together so often that Kitty decided to just keep one large pile of pictures.

They'd already figured out who "Kurt H" was from one of his early family pictures, so Kitty decided to focus on "Blaine A" and hopefully would learn enough to satisfy Marley's curiosity. If the girl continued on in this obsessive way, they'd probably end up spending the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend working on this instead of drinking Butterbeers in the Three Broomsticks.

Most pictures did refer to the Hufflepuff student as "Blaine A" but Kitty finally found her answer in a small labeled family photograph. "Anderson family holiday 1988."

Anderson. Why did that seem so familiar?

Kitty sat at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall at dinner with her mind focused solely on trying to convince Jake to take her to Madam Puddifoot's for a date in Hogsmeade. Her attention briefly rested on a handsome boy walking across the hall to the Gryffindor table.

And she immediately did a double-take.

All the girls in every house drooled over the handsome sixth year student. There was no surprise there, considering his father was one of the most famous WWN personalities and recipient of two Witch Weekly most charming smile awards.

His name was Blaine Anderson.

Kitty suddenly lost all interest in her conversation with Jake, much to his delight, and tried to figure out exactly who these Blaine Andersons were.

* * *

"Anderson!"

Kitty saw the tall, dark haired boy pause and turn around slowly. His shock that she was the one calling out his name was evident on his face.

"Can I help you?"

"Your name's Blaine Anderson, right?" Kitty asked.

He nodded slowly, unsure where the conversation was headed.

"My friends and I - we recently found a box with a bunch of old pictures and stuff in it. And there was this one with this kid called Blaine Anderson. And I'm just wondering why you have the same name as a guy who went to Hogwarts 17 years ago."

Blaine sucked in a deep breath and his face lost a bit of its color. "Wow. That's - that's a pretty loaded question there. I don't really think I can explain it to you right now, especially since I have to be to potions in two minutes. Can we talk about this later?"

"Library after dinner?"

"Sure."

* * *

After dinner, Kitty all but dragged her three friends to the library where Blaine was waiting for them. He looked up from the notes that he had been buried in when he heard them enter, and quickly set them to the side.

Not one to wait more than necessary, Kitty simply pulled the picture out of her pocket and said, "Spill."

* * *

**1987**

When Blaine was six and Cooper fifteen, their parents decided that Blaine could start learning to fly. They bought him a child's broomstick that wouldn't rise more than four feet in the air, and he proceeded to spend every spare moment zooming around the yard. Blaine occasionally donned Cooper's old, barely-used, blue school quidditch robes when he flew, even though they were much too long and he usually ended up tripping over them.

When he was nine, Blaine finally got to use a real broomstick for the first time. His parents told him to wait until they got home from work, but Blaine was too anxious, so Cooper, recently graduated from Hogwarts and momentarily jobless, decided to take Blaine out back to get him started. He only looked away for a second, but it was enough for Blaine to lose control of the broomstick, zoom up, and fall fifteen feet down.

Blaine tried his hardest not to cry, but his leg hurt so bad and Cooper was taking too long looking through the book with the pretty man's face on the cover, so they finally gave up on trying to hide what had happened from their parents. Cooper and Blaine used the Floo Network to get to St. Mungo's and then Coop sent an owl to their parents while Blaine was being healed.

Their parents were understandably angry at both boys. Blaine was scared to touch a broomstick after that.

It wasn't until another year had passed that he thought about trying again. Cooper had moved out by now and had a job at the WWN. Blaine was alone during most of the day and so he had no trouble going out to the broom shed and grabbing Coop's old Comet.

This time, he was much more cautious and controlled. He made sure to stay close enough to the ground that a fall wouldn't break anything, and he didn't fly too fast or let himself get distracted by anything. He was outside for hours, flying and enjoying the rush of air around him. Gradually, Blaine inched higher and higher in the sky, glad they lived in an all-wizard community so that he didn't have to be too bothered about being seen.

As the sky darkened, Blaine dove towards the ground and easily pulled out of his dive. When he righted himself and got used to standing on solid ground once more, he became aware of soft applause from the side of his yard.

Blaine's head spun around in panic that he'd been caught by his parents before he saw who his audience really was. It was his next door neighbor, a boy named Lee Jordan who was already at Hogwarts and an avid quidditch fan.

"You're a pretty good flyer, Anderson," he commented. "Much better than you brother ever was, but don't tell him I said that."

"You really think so?" Lee had always been nice to Blaine, and the younger boy certainly looked up to him, almost like another older brother.

"Definitely. When you get to Hogwarts, show Madam Hooch your flying skills and she'll definitely keep you in mind for your house captain when you can go out for quidditch your second year."

Blaine flushed a bit at the praise. "Thanks, Lee," he said meekly before locking the broom in the shed and going back inside to wait for his parents.

* * *

**2014**

"So the guy in the picture - he's your uncle?" Marley asked. As soon as she had realized why Kitty dragged them all to the library, she had been sitting at the edge of her seat and listening in rapt attention.

"Yeah. My parents got married right when the War started getting bad - a lot of people did. They were scared that they might not have as much time as they thought they would, so everyone rushed to get married and do stuff like that. I was born only a little while after the final battle, and well…

"My dad always said that Kurt was the most important part of the family, even if he wasn't really a member. Uncle Blaine and my grandparents didn't really get along, and Kurt - he saved him. They named me after both of them, but no one's ever really been able to call me Curt or Curtis or anything, even though that's my first name. So I've always just been Blaine. And I always thought of those two as my two uncles."

"What happened?" Marley asked. Everyone had been dodging the really heavy stuff when telling the story, and the four students could tell that it wasn't going to be happy.

* * *

**1992**

Blaine had been preparing for his first day at Hogwarts practically since the moment he was born. Certainly since he learned to walk and talk. He would follow Cooper around the house while the older boy was on breaks and pester him constantly with questions about school and teachers.

All his life, Blaine knew it was coming. The random, accidental spurts of magic that occasionally popped out at the most inopportune moments were evidence enough that he wasn't a squib. But still, the day that Blaine's Hogwarts letter arrived in the mail was the most exciting day of his life.

He read over the pages inclosed so many times that he had them memorized by the time his parents returned home from the ministry that evening.

"I got my letter!" he yelled, launching himself into his mother's arms the moment she apparated in the living room.

"Congratulations, little one. I guess we'll be making a trip to Diagon Alley soon, huh?"

Blaine bounced around the house in excitement for the next five days until his parents took him shopping.

It was a beautiful sunny day when they entered the long, crooked street of Diagon Alley. Blaine ran in every direction, trying to buy everything at once. His parents laughed at his antics and decided to take control of the situation. When they walked past Flourish and Blotts, there was already a gigantic crowd gathered and a large, purple sign in the window announced that Gilderoy Lockhart was doing a book signing there that very afternoon.

"Oh, mom, I have to go!" Blaine pleaded. "He wrote, like, all of my booklist!"

His mother gave in with little protest, and so the Andersons set off to purchase the rest of Blaine's supplies before returning to the bookshop.

Once they finally reached the part of the line that was in the store, there was a commotion up front, and oh, as if Blaine's day couldn't already get better – Harry Potter was standing with Gilderoy Lockhart at the front of the store. Everyone seemed to collectively hush to try to hear what was being said, for Harry Potter was still such a mystery, an enigma. He'd completely disappeared after You-Know-Who tried to kill him and then showed up at Hogwarts last year, only for something (according to Lee, of course) to go down.

And then, Blaine felt like he was about to burst into a million little pieces of excitement. Because somehow, Gilderoy Lockhart (the most handsome man in the world) managed to make Blaine's day even better. The one and only Gilderoy Lockhart was going to be teaching at Hogwarts in the fall. Blaine was going to sit in Gilderoy Lockhart's classroom every week, in the presence of the man himself.

* * *

Blaine was practically vibrating with excitement when he found himself standing on Platform 9 ¾ with his parents, his trunk, and his Little Owl, Beak. Beak wasn't much good at delivering packages, as he was so small, but once Blaine had laid his eyes on the tiny, fluffy creature, he'd been unable to turn away.

Blaine had already said goodbye to Cooper a few days ago. His older brother had been jealous of Blaine's luck in having Gilderoy Lockhart as a professor, seeing as it was Coop's goal in life to become the man.

Once he said his goodbyes to his parents on the platform, Blaine lifted his things onto the train and took a seat in an empty compartment. Throughout the course of the ride to school, a variety of people passed in and out of his compartment. A tiny boy who spoke at breakneck speeds about being Muggle-born was a constant companion (Colin, Blaine was almost sure that was the boy's name). Others who passed through included a girl with bright red hair who Blaine had seen at Lee's house over the summer when her brothers went to visit, an Asian girl who stuttered terribly when she spoke, and a boy with glasses who wobbled around and explained that he'd been in a terrible accident and the healers at St. Mungo's had only just helped him to return to a condition where he could walk about thirty percent of the time. For the rest of his time, he explained, he was in a wheelchair.

Just meeting these people and seeing and hearing about so many others made Blaine want to speed the train up so he could be at school already.

When they arrived at the school, a truly gigantic man (Hagrid, Blaine recalled from some of Cooper's stories) led all the first-years to boats on the lake. One, Blaine noticed, looked quite different from the rest, and it wasn't until Hagrid grabbed the boy with the leg problems and set him down in the boat – wheelchair and all – that Blaine understood. He nervously joined the boy in the boat and they were properly introduced as they made their way across the silent lake.

Once they were all gathered in the school halls, Blaine decided to stick with Artie. The other boy was obviously feeling left out because he was too exhausted to walk, but Blaine didn't mind one bit. Artie was fascinating to talk to. He was a half-blood, and it was while he was out with his father's side of the family (the Muggle side), that he got in the accident. His parents had fought over treatment, but once Artie was finally accepted at Hogwarts, his father relented and allowed him to go to St. Mungo's for treatment.

Blaine wanted to keep talking to his new friend, but then Professor McGonagall called them all into the Great Hall for the sorting ceremony. His stomach dropped down to the floor when he realized just how soon he was going to know where he would be placed. He had to be one of the first, if not the first, and that thought alone terrified Blaine. Thankfully, Professor McGonagall spoke briefly first and then called a few names – including Artie's, so Blaine had time to control his emotions. He managed to keep up a semblance of calm that was only shattered when he heard the words, "Anderson, Blaine."

Blaine settled on the stool and felt the soft, worn fabric of the hat settle over his curls. And then, a small voice began to speak. _"Ah, yes. Anderson. I remember your brother quite well. Very ambitious, very self-assured, even at such a young age. But you – I see many different wants in your head. You're smart as a whip and quite talented, too, I can see it all here. And trusting, too, so open to everyone and everything. I think I know just the place for you... HUFFLEPUFF!"_

Blaine sagged when the house was called. Sure, it wasn't quite as prestigious as Cooper, but Cooper wanted different things than Blaine, the hat recognized that. Plus, Blaine had never heard a single bad word spoken about Hufflepuffs. He grinned, jumped off the stool, and ran over to the cheering table just off center and to his right.

The evening wore on and several new students were sorted into Hufflepuff and joined Blaine at the table. A blonde boy with a huge grin was the second to join, and he took the seat across from Blaine with a look of intense relief painted across his face that Blaine was sure measured his. They exchanged grins and shared eye contact occasionally until the sorting was over.

"So," the boy began, "I'm Sam."

"Blaine."

"Nice to meet you." Sam paused, but it looked like he still had something he wanted to say, so Blaine waited. "I just can't believe this is really real," he finally said.

"Oh, are you Muggle-born?" Blaine asked pleasantly.

"Yes!" Sam exclaimed loudly. "Sorry, I forgot the word for a minute. Yeah. I mean, I always thought that witches and wizards and, like, trolls and stuff existed, but my parents always just said I had an overactive imagination. Even when the guy from here came and explained the whole 'magic thing' to my family, I still don't think they believed it. It wasn't until they saw that Platform 9 ¾ was real and stuff that it sunk it."

"Wow," Blaine said. "I've never really know any Muggles. Or Muggle-borns. I mean, I think there's a witch living in my village who's Muggle-born, but she's been part of the world for so long that we all forget it."

"So you always knew this stuff existed?"

"Yup."

"Wow. Do you know tons of magic then?"

Blaine giggled and shook his head. "No way. They don't let us start using magic until we go to school."

"Good, so at least I won't be behind there." Sam looked around him for a few moments, then leaned in and lowered his voice. "Can I tell you a secret if you promise not to tell anyone else?"

Blaine nodded fervently.

"I can't read so good. My parents call it dys- um... dyslexic, I think. What if I fail because I can't read?"

"It's okay," Blaine said. "I can help you! Or we could always ask an older student for help."

* * *

Blaine's first year at Hogwarts certainly seemed to be perfect. He had a bunch of great friends from his house and others, he'd really impressed Madam Hooch in the first flying lesson, and he got to stare at Gilderoy Lockhart's face for two hours every week. He didn't even mind that the man was more full of himself than even Cooper and didn't seem to be the best teacher. Because, sometimes Blaine would stay after class and actually talk with the man, and that was all he really needed.

And then things started getting weird.

Filch's cat was petrified on Halloween, and people were saying that Harry Potter did it. Not too much later, the boy from the train, Colin, was petrified. Everyone was saying that Muggle-borns were going to be hunted down and killed.

Sam's face when he first heard that rumor scared Blaine more than anything else.

"Blaine, I'm Muggle-born," he whispered urgently in their dorm one night. "What if this – this thing tries to kill me, too?"

"Well," Blaine said thoughtfully, "I'm pure-blood, so if you go everywhere with me, it won't attack, right?"

"You'd do that for me?"

"Of course. You're my best friend."

Things didn't settle down after that, but Blaine did get to revel in the fact that he had a real live best friend who really wanted to hang out with him. They were sitting together in the stands at the Quidditch game when it was announced that it was cancelled, and were in the same Charms lesson when Professor Flitwick got the news about the school's closing.

It hurt both of them, and their other friends, to hear that Ginny Weasley had been petrified. The Hufflepuffs had a few classes with Gryffindors, and Ginny had always seemed so nice. They cheered together at the midnight feast when it was announced that Harry Potter had saved Ginny and the exams were cancelled.

All in all, Blaine's first year at Hogwarts had been pretty fantastic. Even though Professor Lockhart wasn't going to come back due to some serious illness, Blaine was still looking forward to his second year.


End file.
